Ana Balog

“We ate whatever was available.And we were truly grateful for everything”.

Bački Monoštor, Serbia, 2025

From her childhood, she remembers that children were not as picky with food as they are today. She recalls that her grandmother used ash, placing it in a cloth and tying it around a child’s throat to treat a sore throat. For the same purpose, a sherbet drink was made from melted sugar. She also remembers that pork lard was rubbed onto the chest to relieve pain and then covered with newspaper. The traditional diet includes preparing winter stores (zimnica) and sweet jams, as well as sauerkraut and ajvar. As a preserved piece of tradition, she remembers a ‘Gypsy oven’ (ciganska peć) made of mud, straw, sand, gravel, and ceramic tiles, built on a foundation called ‘kolj.’ In this oven, they bake a lard-based dough similar to burek, bread, as well as meat dishes and cheese pies. The cheese pie is also made in a version with added poppy seeds. During the interview, she shared many recipes for dough prepared with pork lard.

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Original language: Serbian/Romani